Further considerations on the species of the genus Orthochirus Karsch, 1891 from Africa, with description of three new species (Scorpiones: Buthidae)
Author
Lourenço, Wilson R.
Author
Leguin, Elise-Anne
text
Euscorpius
2011
2011-12-31
123
123
1
19
https://mds.marshall.edu/euscorpius/vol2011/iss123/1/
journal article
10.18590/euscorpius.2011.vol2011.iss123.1
1536-9307
12782646
F5468220-9C59-4076-84CB-D021D5B0664A
Orthochirus innesi
Simon, 1910
(
Figs. 6−9
,
23
,
28
,
34, 38
;
Tab. 1
)
Type
material
:
Egypt
,
Djebel Mokattam
(today inside
Cairo
), under stones and under low vegetation.
One
pre-adult female (RS-1774 –
Simon’s
number 8086).
Specimen
poorly preserved.
Deposited
in the
Muséum
national
d’Histoire
naturelle,
Paris
.
Revised
diagnosis based on type material and on
two females
collected in
Egypt
: one
topotype
collected at
Wadi Degla
, near
Cairo
,
12/XII/1996
(M. S. Abdel- Dayem).
One female
collected at
El-Omayed Protectorate
,
80 km
west of
Alexandria
,
30°44’N
,
29°08’E
,
10/X/2000
(El-Hennawy)
.
Medium sized scorpions, reaching a total length of
30 mm
for males and for females. (Measurements in
Table 1
.)
Coloration
reddish-yellow to reddish-brown. Prosoma: carapace reddish-brown; anterior margin darker; median and lateral eyes surrounded by black pigment. Mesosoma: reddish-yellow; carinae and granulations reddish-brown. Metasomal segments dark reddish-brown; almost blackish ventrally; telson reddish-brown with a reddish aculeus. Metasomal carinae marked with blackish. Venter yellowish, except for sternite VII, reddish-brown; pectines pale yellow. Chelicerae yellowish to reddish-yellow; base of fingers blackish; fingers slightly reddish. Pedipalps reddish-yellow; femur reddish-brown. Legs reddish-yellow with three distal segments yellowish.
Figure 5:
Orthochirus aristidis
, female (alive) from Djibouti.
Morphology
. Carapace moderately granular; anterior margin with a slight convexity. Carinae and furrows moderate. Median ocular tubercle slightly anterior to the centre of the carapace; median eyes separated by almost two ocular diameters. Three pairs of lateral eyes. Sternum subtriangular to subpentagonal, wider than long. Mesosoma: tergites with thin, moderately marked granulations; median carina weak to moderate in all tergites. Tergite VII pentacarinate with strong carinae. Venter: genital operculum elongated, divided longitudinally into two suboval plates. Pectines: pectinal tooth count
17 to 19 in
males,
15 to 16 in
females; basal middle lamellae of each pecten not dilated. Sternites III to VI with a thin granulation laterally; VII very strongly granulated and with four carinae fused with granulations; spiracles small and slit-like. Metasomal segments rounded, with carinae strongly marked; granulations moderately marked; segments IV and V with granulations ventrally and strongly punctated. Intercarinal spaces almost smooth dorsally; weakly granular laterally. Telson smooth with a few punctuations; aculeus as long as the vesicle and moderately curved; subaculear tooth absent. Cheliceral dentition characteristic of the family
Buthidae (Vachon, 1963)
; movable finger with basal teeth well distinct; ventral aspect of both finger and manus with thin setae. Pedipalps: femur with five carinae, moderately granular; patella with weakly marked internal and dorsal carinae; chela without carinae, smooth. Fixed and movable fingers with 8/8 rows of denticles; accessory denticles present on distal 2/3 of the finger. Trichobothriotaxy: Aβ; neobothriotaxy ‘minorante’ (Vachon, 1974, 1975). Legs: tarsus with two row of slightly spinoid setae ventrally. Tibial and pedal spurs moderately to strongly marked on all legs.
Distribution
: North of
Egypt
and possibly also in the north ranges of
Libya
,
Algeria
and
Tunisia
. Part of the old material listed by Vachon (1952) is still present in the collections of the Museum in Paris. This material is, however, faded and poorly preserved. Moreover, precise data about their localities of collection is often not available. Only new field collections will allow the definition of the exact range of distribution of this species.
Lourenço & Leguin: Considerations of Genus
Orthochirus
in Africa
|
O. aristidis
|
O. innesi
|
O. tassili
sp. n.
|
O. cloudsleythompsoni
sp. n.
|
O. atarensis
sp. n.
|
| ♀ |
♀ |
♂ ♀ |
♂ |
♂ ♀ |
| paralectotype |
topotype |
holotype/paratype |
holotype |
holotype/paratype |
Total length* 29.6 28.0 Carapace: - length 3.8 3.4 - anterior width 2.6 2.5 - posterior width 4.9 4.8 Metasoma, segment I: - length 2.2 2.1 - width 3.3 3.2 Metasoma, segment V: - length 4.2 4.0 - width 3.7 3.5 - depth 2.6 2.5 Telson length 3.8 3.6 - width 1.3 1.4 - depth 1.3 1.2 Femur: - length 2.8 2.7 - width 0.9 0.8 Patella: - length 3.4 3.3 - width 1.0 1.3 Chela: - length 4.5 4.7 - width 0.8 0.9 - depth 0.9 1.0 Movable finger: - length 3.1 3.3 * excluding telson
25.1/23.7 24.1
3.0/2.8 3.2 2.0/2.2 2.3 3.8/4.0 3.8
1.9/1.8 1.8 2.5/2.4 2.8
3.7/3.6 3.8 2.6/2.5 3.2 1.9/1.7 2.2 3.4/3.3 3.6 1.0/1.2 1.2 1.2/1.0 1.0
2.3/2.3 2.4 0.9/0.8 0.8
3.0/2.9 3.2 1.0/0.9 1.0
4.1/4.2 4.2 0.9/0.8 0.8 0.8/0.8 0.8
2.9/2.8 3.0 21.3/23.2
2.7/3.1 2.0/2.2 3.6/3.8
1.6/1.8 2.2/2.4
3.2/3.6 2.3/2.7 1.6/2.0 3.3/3.5 1.2/1.3 1.0/1.2
2.2/2.4 0.8/0.8
2.6/3.0 1.0/1.0
3.8/4.2 0.8/0.8 0.9/0.9
2.7/3.1
5